Bibendum launches new pricing to max on-trade opportunities

Bibendum has launched a new pricing tool that is intended to help the on-trade maximise premium sales and identify new opportunities on its drinks list.

new Pricing Database has been devised by the Bibendum insights team to provide and monitor prices on more than 100 brands in the on-trade which can be analysed by country, grape, region, tasting note, and serve, as well as price. The baseline price tool allows the team to identify themes and trends and present customers with a more complete picture of the on-trade market, which it says removes the element of trial and error in pricing wine and drinks lists.

It will allows Bibendum to identify specific opportunities for its customers to make more from their own wine lists. This team points out this could mean identifying a gap in the range for a new product, a particular wine variety or regions, highlighting drinks or areas where consumers may be happy to pay a more premium price, and pinpointing the varietals that command a larger share of the ‘by the glass’ market.

Bibendum’s head of market insight Alex Linsley said it wanted to help customers understand the wider market and price their products accordingly.

“As with all of our tools, the Pricing Database can be applied in different ways with the same goal: to work with our customers to provide the best drinks offer for their customers, enticing them to come back for more,” he said, adding that it could help “free up some space on the list” to try new and potentially better selling products. “If Albarino is selling well across the market, why not replace a poor selling wine from the list with this?”

Trialling the tool with a small selection of customers over the last few months had already produced interesting results Bibendum added. It highlighted one premium London restaurant which overhauled its list pricing in the run-up to Christmas as a result of the Bibendum’s pricing insight. The distributor identified the establishments’ visitors were 42% more likely to drink Sauvignon Blanc than other drinks, but that the Sauvignon Blanc on its list was priced 56% below the average – despite Sauvignon Blanc typically commanding a 13% premium above the average for a bottle of white wine. Although it raised the by around 14%, there was no effect on volume sales, Bibendum said.

Growth in Sauvignon Blanc was led by ‘new nesters’, its research found, who were 23% more likely to list it as a favourite drink that the average UK drinker. Other groups identified including ‘urban professionals’, high-spending trend setters whose tipples of choice include Albariño and Viognier, while mature foodies, living not far from major towns but not in the centre of cities, plumped for drinks such as New World Pinot Noir or Barbera. Its research found that all four varietals commanded higher by the glass prices than more traditional wines such as Chardonnay, Merlot or Shiraz.

“The Pricing Database will help Bibendum advise customers to list the right products at the right price without having to rely on trial and error,” it said.

Bibendum forms part of Conviviality Direct, the UK’s largest wholesale on-trade supplier, which sits alongside Matthew Clark within the wider Conviviality Plc group. Following Conviviality’s acquisition of Bibendum PLB May, the company has divided its business into three business units, Conviviality Direct, Conviviality Retail and Conviviality Trading.